Fukada’s “Nagi Notes” Joins Cannes Competition
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- Kôji Fukada sees his film “Nagi Notes” selected for the Cannes competition, his first entry for the Palme d’Or.
- Nagi Notes follows architect Yuri (Shizuka Ishibashi) as she visits sculptor Yuriko (Takako Matsu) in the rural town of Nagi, revisiting shared memories and confronting personal histories.
- Kôji Fukada was invited by playwright Oriza Hirata in 2017 to adapt the 1994 play “Tokyo Notes,” but after visiting the Nagi Museum of Contemporary Art he chose to set the story in Nagi and develop an original script.
- Kôji Fukada says the film links the Ukraine war’s impact on local ranchers to Japan’s rising nationalism and economic disparity, arguing that this tests the evolution of democracy.
- Kôji Fukada deliberately includes LGBTQ characters to highlight invisible groups in rural Japan, noting the difficulty of coming out in such communities.
Why it matters: The Cannes selection gives Fukada and his cast a global platform, raising visibility for rural Japanese issues and LGBTQ invisibility, while challenging mainstream narratives about nationalism.
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